Smart growth takes a hit

In the battle to preserve the qualities that make this area special, it all too often seems that one step forward is followed by two steps back. There is no question that our neighbors in Pike County took a significant step forward in approving the Scenic Rural Character Preservation Bond in the recent election. But just next door in Wayne County, the resignation of Phil Dux as Berlin Township supervisor last week constitutes a grievous setback not only for that township, but for its neighbors as well.

Dux has long been a proponent of the processes by which residents of a township can take their destinies in their own hands and control the forces of development rather than be steamrolled by them. In particular, he has promoted the idea of developing a comprehensive plan for Berlin: a road map that would lay out the kinds of laws and ordinances with regard to land use that should be permitted there.

In Berlin Township, Dux has had his job cut out for him: unlike most local townships, Berlin does not even have zoning ordinances. It is, in part, this lack that apparently deep-sixed Dux’s attempts to engage in a regional comprehensive plan with the surrounding Damascus, Buckingham and Manchester townships: according to the township solicitor, lack of zoning ordinances meant that the town could not benefit from a comprehensive plan.

Neither of Dux’s two fellow supervisors have been willing to move on a comprehensive plan or on zoning proposals, and the rest of the township appears to be, at best, indifferent, if the fact that Roger Hector ran without opposition in the recent election is any indication. This failure to put up an opponent to Hector was apparently one of the last straws leading to Dux’s resignation.

There are two groups liable to suffer from the unwillingness of the town to accommodate Dux’s idea. The first group are the residents of the town itself which, by neglecting to create any zoning rules or plans, has in effect abdicated its own power. Comprehensive plans are the instruments by which localities exercise home rule; they not only define a vision, but also have legal force. In case of disputes over land use, one of the standards the courts use to determine legality is the consistency of any proposal with a town’s comprehensive plan, along with other pertinent land-use codes like zoning and subdivision ordinances. If, by any chance, developers should move into the town with proposals for land use that some of the residents find noxious, they will have absolutely no tools with which to fight them. It would be a pity if the township were not to wake up to this until after, say, a large national corporation moves into the area and starts pushing people around.

The other group that will suffer consists of the neighboring townships. By approaching Berlin to join with them in a comprehensive plan, the other towns have demonstrated that they grasp one of the most basic rules of living on an increasingly crowded planet: whether we like it or not, the things we do on our own individual plots of land impinge on each other’s freedom.

If I clear-cut a hillside, the resulting increase in storm water run off may inundate your property down the road. If I pollute upstream, it fouls your water downstream. For this reason, a mere lack of regulations doesn’t guarantee anyone’s freedom: when it comes to land use, one man’s freedom is another man’s burden.

Phil Dux has been fighting the good fight for a while now, and his discouragement is understandable. It is unreasonable to expect one person to stand for too long with his finger in the dyke, especially when he does not seem to be getting much visible support. But we hope that others in Berlin Township will wake up to what they are losing and step up both to replace Dux with another advocate of “smart growth” planning and to stand behind any other officials or candidates they can find who will speak out for it. Not only their well being, but that of all of their neighbors, depends upon it.

Dr. Punnybone

Science Friction